


Companion

by Kittylin15



Series: Slave [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Male Friendship, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-02-17 19:38:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2320976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittylin15/pseuds/Kittylin15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So this came from this other story that I'm thinking of writing about Merlin getting caught by slavers. So when he's a kid he gets captured and manages to escape but then I had a thought of what would happen if he was actually brought to Camelot and I came up with this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Companion

**Author's Note:**

> I thought it would only be 500 words at the most but it kind of took on a life of its own. It is almost like a full story on its own. I just sat down with one tiny scene in my head and it all just started to pour out. It only took me an hour to write the main points of this. I promised myself I wouldn't start another long story till I finish the ones I started. This will probably stay as a one shot for now but might turn into an actual story later.
> 
> Uther is a lot more understanding.
> 
> * Arthur is 6 and Merlin is 4

**...o0o...**

Arthur managed to sneak away from this month's nanny. He'd gone through so many that he didn't even bother to remember their names any more. His father had demanded that he be kept in his room for the morning. He knew what that meant.

This time he wasn't going to be kept away. He crept to the courtyard. Pushing through the crowd Arthur managed to see a small boy standing on the plat form.

.

A small raven haired boy who stood in chains etched with ruins to dampen his use of magic.

Merlin cried as he looked out over the crowd. He'd never seen so many people in his short life. His mother made him swear that he'd never perform magic in front of anyone else but her. It was just his luck that one of the villagers saw him when he was careless. He just wanted to have some fun now look where it got him.

The villager came back with a bounty hunter the next day. Merlin hadn't even known that he'd been seen. All he could see was his mothers crying face when he closed his eyes. He was thrown in a cage and brought to this strange place. When they arrived he saw the man receive coin in payment before he handed him over.

He'd spent the night in the dungeon until he was led out here. Merlin had his suspicions of what was going to happen to him. It was only now he knew it was true. He was tied to a wooden stake.

.

The young prince could make out his father's voice, the king making a speech.

"This boy is charged with treason of the worst kind. He is guilty of performing magic. For his crimes against humanity he will be executed. Burned at the stake to be exact." Uther could see on the faces of his citizens that none of them thought this was right. Even the ones that were usually gleeful at seeing sorcerers executed.

The boy was younger than his son for Christ sake.

It was for propriety sake that he had to go through with this. If he let one boy go he would be seen as weak.

Uther hadn't even known the boys age until this morning. Executing sorcerers had become mundane. He had no part in the sentencing anymore. It went through a steward who was supposed to represent his choices. He was going to have to have a word with the man for putting a small boy down for the pyre. There's no way he could have done something bad enough to warrant it.

.

Arthur gasped at what his father was saying. He knew what all that meant even though they tried to protect him from what was really going on. The war against magic users. At the ripe old age of 6 he knew all about death. The boy was younger and shorter than he was. It wasn't right even if he did have magic.

He felt this great sense of loss when he thought about the death of the young sorcerer, like his chest was being ripped open. Arthur had never seen the other boy but he felt like he couldn't live without him now that he had. It felt like this shouldn't be happening and he had things he needed to do with the other boy in the future, like they weren't suppose to meet for many years.

There was something telling him he needed to do something.

.

The pyre was just about to be lit when the knight bailed out at the last second when another boy arrived at the platform.

"No!" Arthur yelled as he threw his arms around the other boy. This wasn't right.

The crowd whispered to each other, wondering what the young prince was doing.

"Arthur! Get down from there now!" Uther yelled from his place on the balcony. He always tried to keep his son away from these events. He didn't know how he could've gotten out.

"No!" Arthur cried as some of the knight's tried to pull him off. He held on to the boy tighter. They couldn't burn the sorcerer without taking him out too. He doubted his father would let that happen.

Suddenly his father's voice was behind him. "Arthur, you have to let him go. He's a magic user. He's dangerous." Uther had rushed down from the balcony.

"He's mine." Arthur said as he starred into the boy's scared blue eyes that were so much like his own. "I know I can get him to listen to me. he'll only do what I say. Right?" He asked the boy who nodded confused.

Uther shuffled uncomfortably as his moment of weakness was put on display in front of a majority of his citizens. "Ok, Arthur. He's yours to control." He knew that his only son wouldn't give up till he got his way. If he just knocked his son out and executed the boy anyway he would never be forgiven. If the prince was a little younger he might try it but he had grown into his own already. There was a confident personality growing in his son and a sharp sense of what was right.

.

Merlin blinked in surprise when he was untied from the post. When he was led back inside by some knights he realized the whole time the other boy didn't let go of his hand. They were herded through many stone passage ways until they came to a door. It said 'Court Physician' though the boy didn't know that because he couldn't read yet.

The king knocked on the door. "Enter" could be heard from the other side.

Gaius had declined going to the execution today. He never wanted to go actually and only showed up when his presence was demanded. It was upon hearing the age of today's victim that he was truly horrified. Four years old. What had this kingdom come too that by Camelot law that a toddler was sentenced to death?

"I have someone I need you to look at." Uther informed him after he pushed open the door. "Come in." Arthur had to practically drag the boy in behind him. Merlin looked at all the strange instruments dubiously.

Gaius didn't turn around because he didn't think he could look at his king and not see a monster.

"I need you to check the boy over and make sure he's healthy if he's to be staying with us." Uther said.

Gaius spun around and blinked in surprise at the small boy who was now in his chambers. Beside the healthy coloring of the prince he looked emancipated in compare. Must be from a poor village. His face was red from crying. On his wrists he still wore the magical dampening manacles. He only needed one guess to know who this boy was."You didn't have him executed?" He asked out loud in his surprise. When the boy started crying at the mention of the fate he'd just dodged, he knew it was in bad taste.

Rushing over he offered the boy a hanker chief to wipe his tears. He rubbed the boys bony back to comfort him and whispered words of comfort. "Don't worry, your safe here, it's all over." Looking the boy over once he'd calmed a little he found what he was expecting. Picking up the boys hands he observed the burns on his wrists from the cuffs with a deep frown. "I'll get you some salve for those." Gaius patted the boys hand in comfort as he stood and walked over to his work table.

The young prince shuffled uncomfortably as he watched the other boys grief. He'd never been one for crying. His father taught him that it was a show of weakness and it wasn't proper for a prince to show that. The other boy finally seemed to calm down. "I'm Arthur." He held out his hand in greeting.

"Merlin." The quite voice answered back shyly using the handkerchief to hide behind.

Gaius dropped what he was holding shattering it on the floor when hearing that name. There was only one person he knew of who'd named their child that. His niece had named her son after her favorite type of bird. She'd written a letter to him about the boy's birth four years ago. It fit almost too well.

"What's wrong." Uther asked worried for his friend. Since his wife died in child birth the old physician was the only person he felt like he could truly talk to.

"I know that name." Gaius whispered to himself. Turning on his heel he walked back over to the shivering form and kneeled in front of him so that they could be at a similar height. "Merlin." he said to gain the boys attention. "Is your mother's name Hunith?"

Merlin nodded his head. "You know my mummy?" He asked back childishly.

"Yes. She's actually my niece. I'm not sure if she's mentioned me to you but I'm your uncle." Gaius revealed. He saw the king shoot him a surprised look. That this small slip of a boy was actually related to his oldest friend.

"Can you bring me back to her?" Merlin asked with hope in his voice.

Arthur stomped his foot. "No! Your staying here with me."

Uther sighed in frustration at the hissy fit his son was throwing. The physician sent him a questioning look wanting to know what was going on. "The boy's going to stay in Camelot and be the princes new companion."

Gaius nodded sadly. "Then maybe we can have your mother brought to you. I'm sure she's worried about you." He shot the king a look that said no arguments. A boy this age needed his mother. If he was forced to stay here then that was the least the king could do.

A plan started to form in Gaius' mind. Arthur's nannies never lasted very long. Hunith could come to the castle and fill that role. She'd be able to be close to her son.

The boy was yawning and looked dead on his feet. "I think he should stay with me so I can monitor his condition." Gaius led the boy to the back room. As soon as he was tucked in he was out. It was too much excitement for such a young boy.

...

When he came back into the main room he found Arthur spinning on a stole with no one else in the room.

"Where'd your father go?" Gaius asked the prince.

"He is dealing" spin "With my nanny." Arthur answered as he continued to spin on the wooden stool.

When Gaius got closer to the door for his chambers he could hear yelling.

.

"How could you just let him wonder off like that." Uther yelled at the women.

"The rat slipped out while I was cleaning his breakfast he threw at the wall. That boy is a menace." The nanny answered. It had only been a week as the prince's caregiver and already she was going to snap.

"You could spare the trouble to do what I'm paying you handsomely for. All I ask that you make sure he is fed, bathed, and dressed, also kept within your sight at all times. You let him wonder into an execution! he could have been hurt." Uther yelled.

"That's it. I'm done." The women ripped off the smock that designated her as a royal nanny. "I quite. You can find someone else to torture."

Gaius emerged just in time to see the women stomp off down the hall way. He came to stand beside his king.

"What am I going to do." Uther asked. Arthur had managed to burn through eight nannies in the past month. He had half a mind to just set his son on the knights and hope for the best. He wished lgraine was here.

"Well, if Merlin's mother is coming I suggest you offer the position of nanny to her. She's a mother and knows how to handle disobedient little boys.

"You think that would work." Uther asked surprised at how much that made sense.

"Did you notice how well behaved Merlin is?" Gaius asked. He saw Uther's contemplative look.

"I'll write a letter and have some of my knights fetch her." Uther said.

"I'll write the letter. Knowing you, you'd find some way to screw it up and make it sound like you've actually killed the boy after all. You just deal with organizing the knights." Gaius said as he turned on his heal and headed back towards his chamber.

...

(Epilogue)

Arthur was going to act out against his new nanny when Merlin explained to him that she was his mummy. The young prince didn't want his new friend to get upset with him. He promised himself to be on his best behavior. He could tell from the first moment he met her Hunith was a very pleasant women. Usually he didn't like females because they weren't his mother even though he'd never met her. He would put up with Hunith because she was Merlin's, and that made her special to him.

.

When Uther looked in on the nursery he was surprised to see his son dutifully listening to the women read him a story. No running around with his wooden sword and knocking things over. Just quietly sitting.

In the past few weeks since the boy had been adopted into the Pendragon house everything had been running a lot smoother. It was like the prince had been on his best behavior because he wanted to impress the boy. Uther wasn't sure how such a strong connection had grown between the two children in such a short time. He could tell there would be no getting rid of the other boy now.

The only thing they had to deal with was the fact of the young boy's magic. The fact had made him unconformable but the child had such a sweet disposition he could over look it almost completely.

After Gaius had convinced him that the cuffs needed to come off because they were hurting the boy his powers started to emerge. It was completely instinctual and only came of when he was angry or upset, making things float around him. Gaius had been working with him to help the child reign in control. Apparently things like that had been happening since Merlin was a baby according to his mother.

This had made him realize that his war on magic had gone on long enough. His vengeful anger at Nimueh had simmered to coals. He was just tired of it now. The executions had become less about killing dangerous sorcerers who were a threat to Camelot and more about innocent people who had just gotten caught in the cross fire.

It was time he made some changes.

It may be too late for himself to forgiven for his sins against the magical community but not for the future of Camelot. He'd start it and he knew Arthur would finish it someday. His son would make sure of that for his new companions sake.

**The End**

 


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